Develop Bugs

Wild speculation

I don't have the experience to know if this is possible, which is why I ask because I'm curious. I post here because I want devs to see it, and think "that could work" or "idiot"
As we know the defy bootloader will probably never be unlocked, now I was thinking would it not be possible to somehow isolate the bootloader from a rom, and run some kind of virtual one in a seperate partition to run a fully custom kernel? It's probably crazy but I'm dying to know what people think, don't be too hard on me I have no coding experience :/ however all opinions are welcome I think anything is possible
Sent from the real world by hacking into the matrix

I don't want that this will become another dead Bootloader-Hacking-Thread but I want to give you an answer with the facts:
1) There currently is no known way to execute code before booting the kernel because everything is well protected though signing code.
2) The only way to boot a kernel after kernel-boot are tools like kexec or 2ndboot. But a phone's RIL is a heavy stone on that way because it's not that easy to reinitialize this part of hardware and without RIL a phone is useless. The main-developers canceled this project due to this reason.
Other "non-phone"-devices with locked bootloader (like Sony's google-tv) are using this method without problems.
3) You can use kexec/2ndboot to load a full bootloader instead of an kernel only, too. But because we don't have the source we would have to reverse engineer it to disable the signature check of the kernel otherwise you would load another useless protected bootloader This was also an project but I don't think it's still alive...
Additional note: You can't directly flash a modified bootloader because our chipset has built-in OMAP3-security features. This means the CPU will only boot signed Code from NAND.
You can find many helpful information about this topic on this page:
http://and-developers.com/partitions:cdt#cdt_table_of_droid_x

Thanks that clarifies things quite a bit, however I mean loading not just a second kernel but a WHOLE bootloader that would handle the phones entire functions independently, or is it completely hardwired so its impossible for something to override it? (Sorry if you have already answered in the above). Another thing, has noone tried to compile custom fixed sbf? Maybe the bootloader could be replaced that way? In software almost anything done can be undone in some way, although perhaps this is the rare case where it isn't
Sent from the real world by hacking into the matrix

I edited my post to have everything at one place.
I hope this answers your questions.

The bootloader is like the bios in a pc (actually is part of the bios), it's what initializes the device and loads the rest of the code. to load it again or another one you had to reinitialize the device. the issue with the RIL is that when reset or restarted it "panics" and resets the whole device (I think, read it somewhere).
also the second unlocked bootloader that you want to load does not exist anyway.
it's better to just help the developers with bug reports and testing than daydream.
sorry mate!

m11kkaa said:
I edited my post to have everything at one place.
I hope this answers your questions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So its all been tried before, damn! XD at least the devs here have done a fine job of making good roms even with this limitation, guess I will do my research before I buy my next phone as I love playing with roms, the more custom, the better
Sent from the real world by hacking into the matrix

Android Upgrade / Root?

Hello,
I've got a Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 that I bought during the few months when it was the top of the line small tablet from Samsung (before the S series came out). Since it seems clear that Samsung has abandoned it and it won't get an Android update, I want to see what it'll take to upgrade to at least Lollipop. I'm pretty tech savy, but I've never tried to do anything like this with Android and I'm not at all sure where to start.
I've started to read the thread on rooting, but I quickly got a bit lost as I don't understand the terminology.
My goal would be to simply get to stock Lollipop or Marshmallow and have a stable, functional tablet that I don't have to tweak or mess with much. I'd also like to be able to go back if it proves too buggy. Is that feasible, or is rooting plus upgrading pretty much something that will require constant maintenance and tweaking? If it is possible, can someone point me to a how to for complete newbies?

Rooting will not help you upgrade your tablet to Lollipop or Marshmallow as they aren't available for your device. You might want to google "what is rooting" and find out what it does before proceeding.
The only thing you could do to get L or MM is install a custom ROM such as this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...5-1-x-cyanogenmod-13-0-nightlies-tab-t3256093

CafeKampuchia said:
Rooting will not help you upgrade your tablet to Lollipop or Marshmallow as they aren't available for your device. You might want to google "what is rooting" and find out what it does before proceeding.
The only thing you could do to get L or MM is install a custom ROM such as this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...5-1-x-cyanogenmod-13-0-nightlies-tab-t3256093
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What makes you thin that his device is not have any Third Party ROMs (i.e CyanogenMod)? FYI this is the Tab Pro Fourm, and his Device should damned well be able to get to Lollipop or Marshmallow. e.g. CM12.1, or CM13.
As for rooting which you have to do at the start. Will most likely send him back to SamFirmware's where he'll need to likely first downgrade his Firmware to one that has a rootable exploit. i.e. a 'BOC1' ROM for the T325. (Which is the version I have). Through Odin (Samsung's Android Firmware Windows PC flashing Software). Then run something like the CFRoot App to get root.
NOTE: THIS WILL THROW YOUR KNOX FLAG!
This means that you'll never be able to use Knox services on that Device ever again. It will also throw the Warranty Flag as well Alerting Samsung that the Firmware was tampered with. For the moment (As I gather there is no known way to reset either of these Flags.) Not that this should stop you from installing either CM12.1 Lollipop (Seems to have lost support to) CM13 Marshmallow which is currently on a nightly release.
So the better question to ask is which T32x does Op even have? The T320 (Wi-Fi) The most common, and cheapest version has the greatest support. Where as the T325 (LTE), and T321 (3G) versions seem to be leaving behind. though even these are currently well into Marshmallow, and like with most ROMs there are some small bugs. But, on the whole My Device is more or less working as it should be.

Ichijoe said:
What makes you thin that his device is not have any Third Party ROMs (i.e CyanogenMod)? FYI this is the Tab Pro Fourm, and his Device should damned well be able to get to Lollipop or Marshmallow. e.g. CM12.1, or CM13.
As for rooting which you have to do at the start. Will most likely send him back to SamFirmware's where he'll need to likely first downgrade his Firmware to one that has a rootable exploit. i.e. a 'BOC1' ROM for the T325. (Which is the version I have). Through Odin (Samsung's Android Firmware Windows PC flashing Software). Then run something like the CFRoot App to get root.
NOTE: THIS WILL THROW YOUR KNOX FLAG!
This means that you'll never be able to use Knox services on that Device ever again. It will also throw the Warranty Flag as well Alerting Samsung that the Firmware was tampered with. For the moment (As I gather there is no known way to reset either of these Flags.) Not that this should stop you from installing either CM12.1 Lollipop (Seems to have lost support to) CM13 Marshmallow which is currently on a nightly release.
So the better question to ask is which T32x does Op even have? The T320 (Wi-Fi) The most common, and cheapest version has the greatest support. Where as the T325 (LTE), and T321 (3G) versions seem to be leaving behind. though even these are currently well into Marshmallow, and like with most ROMs there are some small bugs. But, on the whole My Device is more or less working as it should be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I read the OP. He said, "stock Lollipop or Marshmallow."
2) You don't have to root TouchWiz to install a custom ROM. All you have to do is install TWRP, but it doesn't matter because of #1 above.

Well yes if he wanted Stock then he'd be outta luck. But that is not how I read it. I read it that he has accepted the fact that Samsung have left us in the lurch concerning any future updates.
That's how I read it, so the question follows in how to install a Custom ROM. Granted it should be possible to install TWRP v. 3.0.1-0, though Odin, and then the Device appropriate ROM. It should go without saying that the T320, and T325 are not the same Device, even if they are both collectively known as Galaxy Tab Pro's 8.4. As such it would be upnto the owner to know which version he might need.

Ichijoe said:
Well yes if he wanted Stock then he'd be outta luck. But that is not how I read it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem, is folks really need to stop using the word "stock" as it really doesn't mean jack. Or at the least, means so many different things to different people, as to be basically meaningless. I would take stock to mean, what belongs on the device per the manufacturer, so that would be Kitkat TouchWiz in this case. To others (and probably what the OP is getting at) is a "pure" unskinned Google experience like Nexus. But seeing as Nexus is limited to such a small number of devices, I don't personally feel you can consider that "stock". CM is AOSP based, and at one time considered by many to be close to a pure AOSP experience. But those days are long gone, and there are so many proprietary CM features and apps now, you can't even begin to consider this "stock" by any means.
---------- Post added at 03:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:22 PM ----------
_salguod said:
My goal would be to simply get to stock Lollipop or Marshmallow and have a stable, functional tablet that I don't have to tweak or mess with much. I'd also like to be able to go back if it proves too buggy. Is that feasible, or is rooting plus upgrading pretty much something that will require constant maintenance and tweaking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are asking for is CM12 or CM13 (LP or MM) or one of the CM based ROMs. Those are really your only choice when it comes to anything past KK on this device. The CM ROMs are are very stable at this point. You might run into an obscure bug, but to be honest, its less laggy and overall a much better experience than the official Samsung TouchWiz ROM. And if you want to be free of Samsung bloat, CM definitely does that as well.
Tweak or maintain? You don't have to do anything after flashing the ROM, if you don't want to. You can decide to update to newer nightly CM builds from time to time, but that is completely optional. And to be honest, even CM13 is so stable at this point, that the nightly updates don't really change much of anything.
Go back? That's a breeze. Just do a backup in TWRP custom recovery before flashing a ROM, and you can restore to that backup (basically a snapshot of your existing configuration).
_salguod said:
If it is possible, can someone point me to a how to for complete newbies?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, just searching and reading are your best friend. You'll learn a lot more that way, than folk spoon-feeding you the info. The process isn't really all that hard. There may be a lot of esoteric lingo, but you can easily Google or use the XDA site search to find out what those terms mean. And once you've gone through the process, you'll likely be happy for the learning experience.
XDA is a wealth of information, for those willing to take the time to learn and search. All the answers you want are here in one form or other. Difficult to wade through at first, I'll agree with that. But all of us here had to go through the same thing at one time or other.
Its really hard to help someone when they say is "I'm a newb, tell me how to do this". Make a lot more sense for you to just dive in, then come back here with some specific questions, which we will gladly answer.

it would help to know what version OS you're running and the build #.
I rooted my tablet late last year (bought it in May 2015). Wasn't hard to do after some reading. Knox is still good too...1 yr warranty will be over soon.

Thanks all, I appreciate it. I've been doing some more digging to try to learn what everything means so I might know what I'm talking about. I started with the Lifehacker rooting guide (I can't post links yet, add this to lifehacker dot com: /5789397/the-always-up-to-date-guide-to-rooting-any-android-phone) and their how to flash a ROM guide (/how-to-flash-a-rom-to-your-android-phone-30885281) as well. Let me know if those aren't good places to start. I've also read through the CyanogenMod how to for the 8.4, which seems pretty thorough.
I definitely appreciate the push to search and learn, but it can feel like drinking from a firehose. Most "how to" posts are written assuming the reader knows the terminology and every post I read means Googling a half a dozen terms to understand it. For example, I have no idea what the Knox flag is or why I'd care if it got triggered. I don't care about the warranty flag, I'm past the 1 year mark so it doesn't really matter, right?
When I said "stock" I was referring to stock out of the box Android, not stock Samsung. Stock Samsung means staying with KitKat which I'd rather not do. My phone is a Motorola Droid Turbo, which I think is pretty close to stock Android Lollipop, so that I'm familiar with that.
However, I think I'm seeing that going stock Android isn't necessarily possible, or rather, other ROMs are easier to come by. Cyanogenmod seems to be the most popular and sounds very stable, I'll likely try that.
So, I don't need to root in order to flash a new ROM. What's unclear is do I need to do anything special to make sure I can go back to the out of the box Samsung KK that I have now in case I really screw it up or just don't like it and want to go back? Will the process of installing Cyanogenmod wipe my device (apps, files, accounts, data, etc.?
Any other surprises that a guy who has never done this might want to know before going in?
Thanks again for your patience and help.

I forgot to mention, I've got the wifi model, T-320. It's running 4.4.2, build number KOT49H.T320UEU1AOC1.

Well you have a number of choices for your T320 (WiFi), Sadly nonmof those stock. Since Samsung has never seen fit to ever giving us one. For me the Samsung (e.g. Vender ROMs), were always the 'Stock' ROMs. 'Pure' ROMs (al-la Nexus), are clearly Custom ROMs.
The best, and quickest way to learn how to update from Stock to Custom would be to hit up YouTube for a few short Vids on the subject.

_salguod said:
I've been doing some more digging to try to learn what everything means so I might know what I'm talking about. I started with the Lifehacker rooting guide (I can't post links yet, add this to lifehacker dot com: /5789397/the-always-up-to-date-guide-to-rooting-any-android-phone) and their how to flash a ROM guide (/how-to-flash-a-rom-to-your-android-phone-30885281) as well. Let me know if those aren't good places to start. I've also read through the CyanogenMod how to for the 8.4, which seems pretty thorough.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those aren't bad general guides, to just introduce you to the basic concepts and terms. Just keep in mind that every different Android device has its nuances, which vary by manufacturer and over time (from one device to another - even from the same manufacturer). So you'll be referring back to Tab Pro 8.4 specific guides eventually.
_salguod said:
I have no idea what the Knox flag is or why I'd care if it got triggered. I don't care about the warranty flag, I'm past the 1 year mark so it doesn't really matter, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically, if you don't know what the Knox flag is, then it probably doesn't matter.
The longer story, Knox is a enterprise mobile solution made by Samsung. If you company doesn't use Knox (and you don't use your device for work), you don't need it. The huge majority of folks will never need Knox or want it.
You're right, that if the warranty is expired, the warranty flag doesn't matter. And honestly, I rooted my device while it still had a valid warranty. I'd rather have a device that I can use how I wish, and install what software I want (especially if Samsung isn't going to support it with updates) and warranty is a secondary concern, at most.
_salguod said:
What's unclear is do I need to do anything special to make sure I can go back to the out of the box Samsung KK that I have now in case I really screw it up or just don't like it and want to go back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you install TWRP custom recovery, you can make a backup of the current Samsung TouchWiz KK ROM; and revert to that if needed or desired.
But honestly, you won't want to go back. CM runs faster and smoother, with no Samsung bloat. You won't want to go back to the crappy TouchWiz ROM, that is 2 generations (Android versions) obsolete.
But it is a good idea to have a backup, in case flashing CM doesn't go right the first time, and the device won't boot.
_salguod said:
Will the process of installing Cyanogenmod wipe my device (apps, files, accounts, data, etc.?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will absolute want to wipe user data when installing CM. Not doing so will likely cause major bugs and/or failure to boot. This is the general rule whenever flashing a new ROM. Although for similar ROMs (such as minor CM updates) you can try to keep user data. This is called a "dirty flash".
You can backup a lot of your data before flashing CM:
Apps: After root, you can use the app Titanium Backup (highly recommended) to backup apps and app data
Accounts: Titanium can backup a lot of this stuff, as well. Depends on what you are talking about, specifically.
Files: just move them to SD card or your computer. Or use a cloud solution (there are many)
You should always be backing up your data, anyway, if its important to you.

_salguod said:
I forgot to mention, I've got the wifi model, T-320. It's running 4.4.2, build number KOT49H.T320UEU1AOC1.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same firmware as what I had prior to rooting it.
The cyanogen articles give a good rundown on how to install it. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether getting the sdcard to be formatted/recognized is still an issue or not.
When last I checked back in Feb. it seemed like that was still unresolved. I have a 64gb card and getting it to be read by CM13 was absolutely critical. So any move to CM13 was postponed.
Running Kitkat is fine for me...after rooting it, I uninstalled/froze a lot of software incl. a lot of Samsung crap that was eating the battery. The battery is my only complaint with the tablet.

AndroidPrince1 said:
The cyanogen articles give a good rundown on how to install it. The only thing that I'm not sure about is whether getting the sdcard to be formatted/recognized is still an issue or not.
When last I checked back in Feb. it seemed like that was still unresolved. I have a 64gb card and getting it to be read by CM13 was absolutely critical. So any move to CM13 was postponed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SD card issue on CM13 was solved in early March. It was holding me back as well (stayed on CM12.1) , until I saw it was solved. Now I've been using CM13 for over a month. My 64GB card works great with CM13.
AndroidPrince1 said:
Running Kitkat is fine for me...after rooting it, I uninstalled/froze a lot of software incl. a lot of Samsung crap that was eating the battery. The battery is my only complaint with the tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you flash CM, you'll see its a lot smoother and snappier, especially on the home screens, app drawer, etc.

Thanks all, I plan on biting the bullet some time soon. Too much other stuff on my plate (like car repairs, etc.) so it'll have to wait for a bit. I'll check back in when I do. I'm looking forward to it.

redpoint73 said:
The SD card issue on CM13 was solved in early March. It was holding me back as well (stayed on CM12.1) , until I saw it was solved. Now I've been using CM13 for over a month. My 64GB card works great with CM13.
If you flash CM, you'll see its a lot smoother and snappier, especially on the home screens, app drawer, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know on the sdcard thing...looks like I'll have to read up again on how to do.
Thanks for the note.

_salguod said:
What's unclear is do I need to do anything special to make sure I can go back to the out of the box Samsung KK that I have now in case I really screw it up or just don't like it and want to go back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BTW, you can always restore your device to 100% stock (Samsung) by downloading the firmware from sammobile.com/firmwares and flashing it using Odin. If you get into trouble, this will help get you back out.
But since flashing CM13 nightlies is relatively easy, I don't think you'll have any serious trouble, just the normal learning curve.
I've had my SM-T320 on Cyanogenmod since the day after I bought it in 2014 and never looked back :good:

CafeKampuchia said:
BTW, you can always restore your device to 100% stock (Samsung) by downloading the firmware from sammobile.com/firmwares and flashing it using Odin. If you get into trouble, this will help get you back out.
But since flashing CM13 nightlies is relatively easy, I don't think you'll have any serious trouble, just the normal learning curve.
I've had my SM-T320 on Cyanogenmod since the day after I bought it in 2014 and never looked back :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see any US firmwares on the sammobile.com site. Am I looking in the wrong place?

_salguod said:
I don't see any US firmwares on the sammobile.com site. Am I looking in the wrong place?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cellular South is the US firmware for some reason.

I'm trying to load the latest CM 13.0 nightly this morning and running into issues.
I'm following the install instructions on the CM website and the loading of a custom recovery is failing at step 7. I get the start of the blue bar on my tablet, but I get this error in the command prompt:
Downloading device's PIT file...
ERROR: Failed to send request to end PIT file transfer!
ERROR: Failed to download PIT file!
Ending session...
ERROR: Failed to send end session packet!
Releasing device interface...​
I've tried twice with the the factory cable and a third time with an alternate cable same result.
How do I fix that?

I should mention that I'm working on a Windows 10 computer.

Doubts

Hello everyone from Murcia!
First of all, sorry for my bad English. I hope you can understand me. I'll try my best.
I come from HTCMania.com to see if I can solve here some specific doubts I have, so I am able to replace the ROM soon.
As a good computer documentary (digital documentalist), I like to share my experiences from my humble contribution in appreciation for so many hours of work shared altruistically, when there is no advertising, at least initially, although sometimes I understand it.
There are times that because of lack of time I do not investigate more on this forum to find out about things, and here you can not always help to everyone or there is no luck to be replied.
I'm very afraid to damage my cell phone even though there are tutorials to unbrick it.
As you know, each one establishes his own goals of how far anyone wants to get complicated life in this world, some because they are good programming and therefore are developers, others are satisfied with less, but in different degrees of depth knowledge, so there are different groups. Well, I fit into the second group, but I would like to install the ROMs cleanly.
I'm not going to do a lot of experiments to the mobile, just the right ones, I know perfectly well where I can get in and where not, because in advanced configuration issues of kernel, CPU and battery I prefer not to go deep in changing codes (sometimes I have tested some tweaks to get more performance, but I am not interested in testing all I read, because although I know the logging tools and other tweaks, having studied the forum for years, I'm scared, although I dabble in Odin and several Samsung models and a Sony with two bricks and then other installations of simple ROMS without complicate too much my life.
Until then my introduction, I start by asking the questions:
1) Do you need to do wipes three times or when you are going to format?
2) I would like to know if it is worth with the current versions of Android to have the root if one is not clumsy, simply to be able to use some application that requires it or if it improves the consumption of the battery.
3) What root method is best today for the LG G3 D855?
4) Is it worth upgrading from Android 6 to 7 or not because it is not the latest version of ROM Stock? Does it work well if anyone have tried on some Custom ROM?
5) What is the difference between revision 30N and 30B of LG firmware for Android M. I suppose some security bugs are corrected, but referring to what? Is it referred only improvements in stability, battery consumption and performance without specifying more anyplace? Is it worth upgrading to 30N knowing that it does not have root, are those improvements so significant?
6) Do the MultiROM work well?
I think my questions are interesting, even if for many they are easy to answer. At least they seem very useful to me if you answer them and I will archive your answers so as not to forget and to consult them.
I ask those questions because I found it harder to find an answer to them in the forum or board. As soon as anyone respond and from the data they visualize in my profile, I will get to work, but first I need to be sure of those things.
Many will already know this, but I not, and many others will not either.
Thank you very much in advance.
Regards!
Pedro

Hi, I'm just gonna answer a few of your questions..
1) Why would you need to wipe 3 times? Once should be enough.
2)If you only need it for a few apps, sure, why not.
4) Depends on what you want. Camera is a bit better on stock ROM because of proprietary drivers. Not to say picture quality is bad on Nougat, you just don't have as many cool options to play with. Other than that, everything works on Nougat and it is much smoother than stock ROM. I recommend you XenonHD 7.1.2 and pair it with Gamma kernel v50 for best smoothness.
As for root, I used the most common method (Kingroot+TWRP installer) because I was going to install custom ROM right away anyway.
Additional note: I highly recommend you to do a thermal mod on your G3 as it will prolong its lifespan significantly and increase performance.

I think that it's only a popular belief, read in HTCMania.com more than once.
What about Magisk to root instead of Kingroot? Which is better?
Thanks!

murciano79 said:
I think that it's only a popular belief, read in HTCMania.com more than once.
What about Magisk to root instead of Kingroot? Which is better?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you cant root G3 with Magisk. You can flash it later form recovery to use it as a root app but you need other methods for actually performing the rooting of the device. I do recommend Magisk, however. You can also use SuperSU but Magisk has some extra features that make it more appealing.

What a mess!, don't? It's probably best not to root, if you have to use more than one program in case you use Magisk, or do it only with Kingroot.
Besides, the problem could be safetynet.
And now I read this:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/kingroot-malware-adware-root-t3563090

Well, it's actually very simple to root. I don't recommend kingroot if you plan to use the stock ROM you used kingroot on. If you wanna be safe, backup everything you need, do a factory reset, don't add any of your accounts, just sideload kingroot and the twrp installer, do the process and wipe data again, now from TWRP. (hold power+vol down until LG logo, let go, then press again the same combination to enter recovery. select yes when asked to wipe data, it won't wipe but enter recovery)
If you want to replace the ROM, and your phone is currently on stock Marshmallow, just use Kingroot. It will be deleted when you change ROM so it wont matter anymore. I personally tested this method (https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-g3/general/root-twrp-marshmallow-d855-30b-t3286268) and it worked flawlessly. Just make sure your model is D855 on Marshmallow.

Manually install Project Treble?

Since Project Treble isn't coming officially, isn't it possible to just partition the phone manually using an unlocked bootloader, custom recovery, and other such tools, to then make the phone repartitioned in a way that supports Treble?

I'm not a developer but repartitioning the phone would be very tricky as it might also brick your device. OnePlus said this in their post about Trebble. This is assuming you do it via an OTA update, plugging in the phone to a computer might decrease the risk of bricking.
Again, I'm not a developer and don't have a lot of experience so someone else more experienced might pitch in and give their thoughts about this.

I had the same idea of manually installing project treble, I would really love to know if it's possible

I think our biggest hope is that LineageOS will maybe support it. But one thing is sure. If you stay on OOS even if you repartition your phone will not use treble as the OS will not even try to do that. It will work the same regardless of the extra partition.

Are the lineageOS developers working on supporting project treble ?

I may be wrong, but as far as I know, this is not really possible.
Getting project treble on your phone would imply that your firmware and OEM framework is compatible with this.
To give you an analogy, consider a PC running some version of Windows (since that's easier to explain). When a new version of windows is available, you don't have to upgrade firmware for your motherboard, your hard drive, sound card etc. This is because windows (or you yourself) will install the drivers necessary to communicate with your hardware.
This is possible because all OEMs subscribe to a certain contract.
Currently, Android ties in heavily to the device firmware, as the OEMs have to update their framework with each new iteration of Android. This is because until now, there was no exact contract defined for OEMs to subscribe to.
HAL and Treble are a step in the right direction to change this, but this cannot happen unless the OEMs rewrite the device framework to adhere to this new model or if someone invests their own time into doing so, if that is even possible.
Im not an Android developer, so I'm not right in all the points I've mentioned, but I've tried to clarify to the best of my own understanding.

Question All in one tool in the works?

I really hate asking this type of question as it makes me sound like a choosy beggar, but is there an all in one tool in the works for unlocking/rooting/flashing/etc? As I grow older, I desire rooting and tinkering, however I also value my free time a lot more lately (can't have both, right?).
Apologies if this is a silly question, however I thought I'd ask anyway! Thanks!

CacheOnlyPlease said:
I really hate asking this type of question as it makes me sound like a choosy beggar, but is there an all in one tool in the works for unlocking/rooting/flashing/etc? As I grow older, I desire rooting and tinkering, however I also value my free time a lot more lately (can't have both, right?).
Apologies if this is a silly question, however I thought I'd ask anyway! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, only the original Pixel 1 has an all-in-one tool* ("click button, wait, have fun - even though the P1 tool only came years after release!"), it has always been the culmination of a couple ADB steps/commands in a certain order, plus some manual flashing/magisk file creation incl. copying a couple files from your phone to your PC or vice versa.
Especially since Google changed alot of stuff with Android 11 and Android 12, it's a bit more complicated to root since the days of the original Pixel.
That doesn't mean that there can be no all-in-one root tool here, but as of now we have none and I don't see how one could be created in the foreseeable future.
*https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ck-twrp-factory-image-stock-recovery.3730227/

Morgrain said:
As far as I know, only the original Pixel 1 has an all-in-one tool* ("click button, wait, have fun - even though the P1 tool only came years after release!"), it has always been the culmination of a couple ADB steps/commands in a certain order, plus some manual flashing/magisk file creation incl. copying a couple files from your phone to your PC or vice versa.
Especially since Google changed alot of stuff with Android 11 and Android 12, it's a bit more complicated to root since the days of the original Pixel.
That doesn't mean that there can be no all-in-one root tool here, but as of now we have none and I don't see how one could be created in the foreseeable future.
*https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...ck-twrp-factory-image-stock-recovery.3730227/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For sure, that's actually the All in One tool that I remember using with my Oneplus 7 Pro. This is my first Pixel phone (does the Nexus 6P count?) so I wasn't sure if developers would be all over it, or if Google has made things more complicated over the past couple of years. Either way I appreciate the reply and will probably dive into unlocking/rooting over the holiday weekend.

CacheOnlyPlease said:
For sure, that's actually the All in One tool that I remember using with my Oneplus 7 Pro. This is my first Pixel phone (does the Nexus 6P count?) so I wasn't sure if developers would be all over it, or if Google has made things more complicated over the past couple of years. Either way I appreciate the reply and will probably dive into unlocking/rooting over the holiday weekend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to read a bit about complication, take a search engine and find out what
Android 11 scoped storage
Android 12 Dm-verity (device-mapper-verity)*
Android 12 Vbmeta verification**
SafetyNet Android
Android Hardware Attestation
means.
*is a method by which an image on block devices (the underlying storage layer of the file system) can be checked to determine if it matches an expected configuration, using a cryptographic hash tree. If the hash doesn't match, dm-verity prevents the stored code from loading.
**is the other half of this - it provides a cryptographically signed reference hash which is used to verify the integrity of /boot, /system, and /vendor partitions. The vbmeta image is only used to verify /boot, while vbmeta-system is used to verify /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google has been actively working - for a couple of years now - at making the modding/rooting communities life harder. We have always found a workaround, some require work (spoofing device ID, forcing software attestation, et cetera) or don't work that well at all, but it's a constant struggle.
Every firmware update is a small struggle and you got to pray to the man above that your device will still boot up, even if you have those pesky magisk modules disabled.

Morgrain said:
Google has been actively working - for a couple of years now - at making the modding/rooting communities life harder. We have always found a workaround, some require work (spoofing device ID, forcing software attestation, et cetera) or don't work that well at all, but it's a constant struggle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think Google's goal was to make our devices more secure, not making modding/rooting harder.

CacheOnlyPlease said:
I really hate asking this type of question as it makes me sound like a choosy beggar, but is there an all in one tool in the works for unlocking/rooting/flashing/etc? As I grow older, I desire rooting and tinkering, however I also value my free time a lot more lately (can't have both, right?).
Apologies if this is a silly question, however I thought I'd ask anyway! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if this fits the bill of what you're looking for
Android Flash Tool

Perhaps this
Android Dollhouse (Flashtool) | TESTERS REQUIRED
Android Dollhouse The Definitive Android Flashtool. This is the support thread for Pixel 6 Pro. If you have another device, please check the other threads: Pixel 2XL: Support Thread Pixel 6: Support Thread I'm releasing the first user-facing...
forum.xda-developers.com

Az Biker said:
Not sure if this fits the bill of what you're looking for
Android Flash Tool
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sort of. Like I mentioned, I haven't dove into the details yet of rooting my Pixel 6 Pro yet, however can this tool you linked get me out of a potentially sticky situation if I ever need to load the stock firmware (ROM) onto it? That's really my biggest concern is messing something up. If I have a tool handy to get me back to stock, even if it wipes the whole phone, then I'm much more likely to dive in, you know.

For an all-in-one tool... what's wrong with fastboot?

CacheOnlyPlease said:
Sort of. Like I mentioned, I haven't dove into the details yet of rooting my Pixel 6 Pro yet, however can this tool you linked get me out of a potentially sticky situation if I ever need to load the stock firmware (ROM) onto it? That's really my biggest concern is messing something up. If I have a tool handy to get me back to stock, even if it wipes the whole phone, then I'm much more likely to dive in, you know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you haven't already looked them over, check the 6 PRO link in my sig, Step by step directions, pretty much each and every detail to make it easy for people like me who aren't rooting gurus.
Fastboot is the tool to pull you back from the abyss should you screw the pooch. Plenty of places you can find commands to help you out in a pinch, usually bringing you back to a factory fresh image.
Fastboot, update, and root a few times and it'll become much less concerning and tedious.